OIR vis-a-vis Cascade Policy Institute

[Burgess Laughlin]

From my (Libertarian Party) political experience three decades ago, I
learned that reporters often ask activists at least these three
questions:
- What is your purpose?
- How many members do you have? (It is best to be upfront about very
small membership -- even if it seems amusingly small to journalists.)
- What is your relationship to X -- where X might be a political
party, an "extremist" group, or other organization that might rile or
appease the journalist's audience.

One organization that is now well established in Oregon, particularly
in Portland, and that has a positive reputation with some journalists
(and legislators) is The Cascade Policy Institute.

OIR members might be asked someday about its relationship to CPI.
Knowing something about it and preparing a memorable formal statement
about it might be helpful in interview situations:

http://www.cascadepolicy.org/overview/

The points I would keep in mind for an interview are:
(1) CPI is delimited to economic issues.
(2) CPI has no philosophical foundation spelled out.
(3) CPI is non-political (no recommendations on ballot measures, for
example) as well as non-partisan.


P.S. As an aside, this statement from the Overview page might provide
leads to determining official legal status for OIR someday:

"Cascade does not solicit or accept any government funding. Cascade is
a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization. Contributions are
fully tax-deductible to the extent provided by state and federal
law."

I assume 501(c)(3) refers to a code for incorporation of some sort.